Hunziker furnished the living area with French Empire armchairs from Bernd Goeckler covered in antique Bessarabian carpet fragments, a Liaigre coffee table, custom sofas and an Alexander Lamont floor lamp. Underfoot is a rug from Driscoll Robbins Fine Carpets.
Juxtaposing Old + New In A Remarkable Seattle Retreat
Photographed and published many times, graced with generously scaled spaces, and filled with art and furniture collected over decades, Terry Hunziker’s former Seattle apartment was nearly as synonymous with Pacific Northwest design as its owner. Needless to say, moving hadn’t necessarily crossed his mind until he ran across a listing for a high-rise condo facing the Space Needle. “It seemed interesting and had all the things I wanted—high ceilings, a huge terrace and protected views,” he remembers. “It was smaller, but I could see the possibilities.”
Hunziker acted fast, soon trading Pioneer Square—home for nearly 40 years—for Belltown and embarking on a gut remodel. His initial vision included installing a wall between the kitchen and living area (“I’ve never been a fan of an open kitchen,” he confesses), dropping the ceilings slightly to install lighting to showcase his beloved art collection, and revamping the terrace. Then, in the midst of working with general contractor Charlie Adams on the renovation, he had the chance to purchase the adjacent studio apartment, which allowed him to turn the second unit into a primary suite and expand the main living areas and terrace.
Home Details
Interior Design:
Terry Hunziker, Terry Hunziker Inc.
Home Builder:
Charlie Adams, C A Adams, LLC
Hunziker saved the kitchen’s cerused-oak cabinetry and had more made to match, adding a blackened-steel channel for architectural interest. He selected Miele appliances, topped the counters with new stone from Marmo e Granito and hung RH pendants to finish the space.
While known as a modernist, designer Terry Hunziker has an affinity for French design, including the living area’s Empire-era chair and Art Deco loveseat. The floor is hand-laid parquet de Versailles by Elliott Bay Hardwood Floors.
Hunziker furnished the living area with French Empire armchairs from Bernd Goeckler covered in antique Bessarabian carpet fragments, a Liaigre coffee table, custom sofas and an Alexander Lamont floor lamp. Underfoot is a rug from Driscoll Robbins Fine Carpets.
During the renovation, the designer acquired the adjoining unit, enabling him to create a gracious primary suite off the library-dining area. There, he hung a new acquisition, a Mel Bochner work, where it joins a chair and table of his own design.
The terrace, with the Space Needle in view, is the first thing visitors see in the distance when entering the apartment, so Hunziker took pains to make it feel of a piece with the living and dining areas. He designed the dining tabletop himself, fabricated by Stusser Woodworks.
Previously overgrown, the terrace received new life thanks to boxwood hedges in custom planters around the perimeter and trees in large RH pots. Pieces from Sutherland, some from Hunziker’s own line, provide ample space for dining and entertaining.
The finished apartment is a complex juxtaposition of past and present, old and new. Hunziker opted for the earthy, neutral shades that have long been a part of his work—“my Northwest color palette,” he says—notably painting some of the walls a taupe shade and covering others in a similarly hued linen or plaster. Much of the furniture and art also came from his old place, such as the 19th-century French chairs and Kehinde Wiley resin bust in the dining area, although the new home’s smaller size required some careful editing. The designer brought along a pared down version of his book collection, too, which inspired the built-in cerused-oak-and-blackened-steel bookshelves throughout. “One of the primary ideas was for it to feel like a library,” Hunziker explains. The material palette continues into the kitchen, where he saved the existing cabinets, fortuitously also in cerused oak, and had new ones made to match.
Hunziker is recognized as one of the foremost practitioners of Pacific Northwest modernism, and materials like darkened wood, metal and stone speak to that aesthetic, as do sleek pieces of his own design. However, “I love French things and decided to bring in a little French atelier feeling,” he says, pointing to the parquet de Versailles flooring installed by hand in the living area, as well as the French Art Deco loveseat and Empire chairs. Even the gilt mirror with antique glass between the bookshelves has French flair. “I have a lot of contemporary pieces, but you see this kind of mix in a lot of Parisian apartments,” he says, adding jokingly, “after all, the Space Needle is the Eiffel Tower of Seattle.”
Signifying his fresh start, though, are multiple pieces found just for his new digs. The rugs and shagreen-topped dining table are all custom. He also comfortably furnished the terrace with upholstered teak pieces. “I wanted to finish the outdoor space as part of the living room,” Hunziker explains, “because it’s the first thing you see in the distance when you walk in.” He even acquired new artwork to fit some spots, such as the Mel Bochner piece hanging in the primary suite. “I always knew there would be a large painting there,” he says. “Then I saw this artwork in San Francisco and had to have it.”
Now that the project is complete, Hunziker is settling in nicely. His efforts to make the new building his home have expanded—he’s currently at work reimagining the lobby and the owners’ lounge. What’s more, he’s made friends among his neighbors and includes them in casual before-dinner gatherings and New Year’s and Fourth of July parties. “The apartment is much lighter and brighter and open to the outside, so I find I’m entertaining often,” he shares. More than just a change of address, this condo has become a welcome new beginning.
During the renovation, the designer acquired the adjoining unit, enabling him to create a gracious primary suite off the library-dining area. There, he hung a new acquisition, a Mel Bochner work, where it joins a chair and table of his own design.